Sacrifices
by il labirinto
Summary: He never thought that he would see her again. But there she was, standing in front of his door in the pouring rain with a casual look on her face. As though it was an everyday occurrence to stop by his home and completely tilt his world off it's axis.


**Disclaimer: **If I owned Avatar: the Last Airbender, what the hell would I be doing here ? -.-

* * *

He never thought that he would see her again.

But there she was, standing in front of his door in the pouring rain with a casual look on her face. As though it was an everyday occurrence to stop by his home and completely tilt his world off it's axis. As though it were normal to make him doubt all his decisions and have all his regrets shoved into his face.

"Can I come in?" She asks in an unusually soft voice and her pale green eyes meet his own with surprising accuracy. Aang finds himself saying yes before he even considers the consequences-he has a _wife _for God's sake- and opens the door wide enough for her to pass through.

She walks in and heads toward the dinning room as though it were her own house before turning her head to the side and calling out to him to follow her. He follows of course-he's too shocked to question her and doesn't even bother asking her how she knows where the dinning room is-and takes a seat in front of her at the table. Her black hair, which was usually put up into a bun in their younger years, is down and dripping water but neither of them say anything about it. She seems to be at loss for words while he has so many questions running through his head. What is she doing here? Where did she go? Is she married? Does she know the he's married to her best friend? Does she hate him? Why did she leave?

"I know you're wondering why I'm here," She suddenly says in that strong voice of hers. "And I intend to tell you why. But I need you to understand why I left all of you in the first place."

"Go on," Aang says in a shaky voice. He clears his throat and stares into her eyes. "Tell me what possible reason you had for leaving all of us with no explanation at all. You left, Toph. And we haven't heard from you in _seven years_. "

The earthbender just continues to hold his gaze despite the fact she can't even see him and bites her bottom lip. This action is so out of character that Aang finds himself looking at the girl-no women, she's twenty-two now-with his eyebrows raised. Biting your lip is a sign of hesitation, doubt. And Toph never hesitates or doubts her actions. So he finds himself dreading whatever it is she has to say because he knows that whenever the most confident person he's ever met is hesitating, it means that whatever the reason is, it is bad.

"I was being blackmailed Aang," Toph says. "Someone found out about what happened that night and threatened me. And I couldn't just let him tell everyone, Aang. It would've hurt her and she's my best friend. I couldn't do that to her. So I did what they said and left all of you. I'm not supposed to ever contact you guys again but..."

"But?" He asks. His breath is caught in his throat and his heart is hammering a mile a minute. How could anyone find out about what happened? He and Toph had made sure no one knew about it and were so careful not to make it obvious to Katara. It was an accident that had been building up too long and they couldn't had stopped it if they tried. They didn't mean for things to go that far and the morning after was filled with awkward silences and promises to never tell anyone about it.

"He was killed. The man that was blackmailing me. He worked for my father and that's why he was so insistent on getting me away from everyone. My father was terrified for me after the war; scared that I had made enemies that would want me dead. And he was right about that. I had made enemies. You wouldn't believe what I had gone through trying to find where you and Sugar Queen lived."

At the mention of Katara's old nickname, Toph's face turns slightly pink in shame and Aang stands up from his seat.

"Where is she anyway?" She asks softly.

"She went to visit Sokka back at Kyoshi Island. Then she's going to help Zuko with some negotiations. I came back a few days ago from the Southern Air Temple. You're lucky you came here when you did. You might have not caught me," He walks to where she is sitting and grabs her chin. He slowly turns her head so that he can look into her eyes and sighs. "Now tell me: what are you doing here Toph?"

He hears her swallow nervously and a part of him, the part that's still a teenager, is happy that he is able to get this reaction out of her. Her plump, pink lips open slightly and he is struck by how _beautiful _she turned out to be. She is no longer the awkward, fifteen year old girl getting used to having breasts and longer longs. She's a strong, confident women who is being reduced to nerves before his very eyes.

He remembers how nervous they were that night. The night both of them lost their innocence. He had been frustrated by how distant Katara was to his affections. Toph had been angry and heartbroken to find out that her boyfriend, some earthbender they met in Omashu, was cheating on her. Both of them were angry, frustrated, and just needed to let out some steam. And they both knew that their relationship had been building up to that point for years. Stolen glances(on his part of course), hands brushing whenever they passed each other, awkward positions during their sparring sessions. It all caused them to just explode. So, one day when Toph was helping him rebuild one of the Air Temples while Katara wasn't there, it happened. Toph, still not used to her new height and long legs, tripped. It was a rare occurrence; she's usually so rooted to the ground that she rarely ever stumbles, let alone _trip_. So when she fell, Aang caught her.

She had opened her mouth to tell him that she was okay, it was all puberty's fault for making her grow so much(she is, however, still pretty short. But she had grown more than a foot and was a late bloomer) when he kissed her. It had been a simple kiss but it sparked a fire in both of them that they couldn't put out. The next thing they knew, they were both waking up in Aang's bed, next to each other, _naked_. Aang couldn't look at her and Toph simply turned her blind gaze to the floor. They later agreed that they couldn't tell anyone, because despite how much they now wanted to be together, they loved Katara too much to break her heart and trust. So they put that night behind them and acted as though it never happened. Katara never thought anything had happened and eventually stopped being distant to him. Then, a few months later, Toph left without a word to either of them. And they hadn't seen her since.

Until now, of course.

Toph sighs and her blank eyes gaze straight at his. He notices that the skin on her nose and cheeks are now filled with small, barely noticeable freckles and that her skin is no longer a translucent white but a slightly sun-kissed, very pale, olive tone, as though she's been in the sun for a long time. Her hair is raven-black but shorter than it has ever been-it's up to her lower back instead of her waist- and that she's skinnier than before. And she's actually _clean._ She's not covered in her usual "healthy coating of earth" and smells like lilacs and grass.

"I came because I needed closure Twinkle Toes," She whispers and her hand caresses his cheek. "I never said goodbye because then everyone would've known that I was no longer pure. I always planned on at least visiting my parents and I knew I couldn't face them if they knew I wasn't a virgin anymore. And then, I can't hurt Katara. She was my best friend and I could never do that to her. So I did what that man said and left you. I wasn't allowed to talk to you, Katara, Sokka, Suki, Zuko, or Iroh without risking my family's honor. But now he's dead and I need to tell you Aang. I need to tell you that had I not left, maybe I would've ended up being your wife, not Katara."

Aang closes his eyes and sighs. "I think you would've Toph. I really do. But I'm married now and there's nothing we can do about that. You did leave and now this is where we are."

"I realize that."

"Then why are you here?"

She groans and her usual scowl comes into place. "I just told you I needed closure, Twinkle Toes. After today, you'll never see me again. I'm done with having all this guilt inside of me and I need to say goodbye and hear your voice one last time. " She stands up and his hand goes limp at his side.

"Goodbye Aang," she says and walks towards the door. She stops when her hand grips the handle and looks over her shoulder. "This needed to be done Twinkles. We both needed the closure. She can't ever know."

"I love you," He calls out when she opens the door. She freezes and her entire frame goes stiff. "I've never stopped loving you. Seven years, Toph. I still dream about that night and I haven't been able to love Katara the way I used to because you stole my heart and never gave it back. And now I'm broken because you _never_ even said good bye. You can't just pop up like this and leave me!"

He's panting by the time he finishes yelling and just continues staring at her stiff back. "I still love her, Toph. I do, but not the way I love you. And I feel so _guilty_ every second of every day because I'm lying to her when she's been nothing but truthful to me. And I just can't anymore. I love you Toph. I love you with everything I am and you can't just leave me like this."

She continues facing the door and shakes her head.

"I have to, Aang. I'm sorry." And she steps out the door before he can let out another breath.

But he can still hear her when she whispers on the other side of the door "I love you too, Twinkle Toes."

* * *

**A/N:** I don't know if I'm too happy with this. I've been working on it all day but I'm still not too sure. Sorry that Toph is a little OOC, but you can't really blame me. She's ten years older and heartbroken so I think I did okay with that. Tell me if you like it or not, but no flaming. Just constructive criticism please (:


End file.
